In a nutshell, The Iowa, which has been in mothballs for years, was proposed to be docked on a vacant pier near Candlestick park as a memorial and museum. The city's leaders have apparently expressed their sheer disapproval for the idea, stating that this warship represents an anti-gay military, and a military currently involved in an unpopular war. Kind of stupid if you ask me, playing trump cards like that.

Irony is, the sailors who served on this ship are the ones who gave these losers the right to be able to protest and say such moronic things.

Quoting DeltaGuy (Thread starter):The city's leaders have apparently expressed their sheer disapproval for the idea, stating that this warship represents an anti-gay military, and a military currently involved in an unpopular war. Kind of stupid if you ask me, playing trump cards like that

And this surprises you about SFO? Not I.

So, fuck San Francisco . . . take that ship to some place where it and it's history of providing for the freedoms of ALL - ALL - American's will be appreciated. And don't let any tourists from SFO on board.

I say that the ship should be parked in an area where she will be respected. This is a loss to nobody other than the fraction of the SFO population who is repressed by these ideologues running the place.

Quoting ANCFlyer (Reply 1):So, fuck San Francisco . . . take that ship to some place where it and it's history of providing for the freedoms of ALL - ALL - American's will be appreciated. And don't let any tourists from SFO on board.

Screw 'em.

No need to lump us all of us in SFO together on this one. I would like to see the U.S.S. Iowa moored here, as would Senator Feinstein:

Quoting NoUFO (Reply 7):After all, only eight people voted against Feinstein's decision, not the entire city.

But the city voted those eight people into office. I would hope that the upstanding citizens of SF should feel so embarassed at this decision that they will not only do everything they can to vote them out, but harrass and ridicule their neighbors who supported them.

There comes a time, even in a democracy, when a voting majority get all flaky in the head and put crazy people into office. The Hamas victory in Palestine is a great example. People need to say "Enough with the political correctness!".

The Iowa stands for several things, all of which deserve to be memorialized.

1) It stands for the fact that men (and more recently women), have fought and died for the freedoms we all enjoy, not only the US, but the whole world. If it had not been for warships like the Iowa, The Swastika would now be flying over the rooftops of the Kremlin, the White House, and the Houses of Parliament. For those protesting the Iowa due to the military's treatment of gays, I remind you that the Nazis put homosexuals in gas chambers.

2) The Iowa is also a technological marvel of its time. Dreadnaught battleships represented the zenith of the technology. The ultimate expression of strength, durability, detection, control, organizational, safety, and of course weapon technology that was possible at the time. If there is anything that deserves being a museum (or in a museum), it is the battleship. Today they are dinosaurs, made extinct by our dependence on computer chips. Iowa stands for a period when things had to be done by sheer brawn.

About two years ago I got to tour the USS Wisconsin which is moored at the naval museum at downtown Norfolk. These ships are absolutely magnificent. I spent almost three hours just walking her main deck and speaking with the volunteers (many former crewmen). It's a shame that the boats spend the remainder of their lives tied up to docks because you get a sense that the spirit of the ship wants to be out on the ocean.

The ships are living history lessons and should be treasured.

F*ck these liberal POS's in SFO that live under the blanket of freedom that the vessels and their crews fought to secure only to turn their backs on them.

While the US is far from perfect and we have plenty of things to improve on, to ignore the contribution and sacrifices that these vessels, her crews and our militiary forces have made for all of us is just wrong.

This is no surprise. For a city that voted in favor of an unconstitutional (both from Federal and California law perspectives) ban on all handguns, how could they possibly be expected to allow something like a Warship to be displayed there?

Maybe they are afraid the sea level rise from man-made Global Warming will plant the Iowa firmly atop the Golden Gate bridge!

I thought the Iowa was to go to Stockton, CA for display. San Francisco's leaders (yeah, right!) are nothing but a bunch of morons for refusing this historic warship. As of 6 or 8 months ago, the US Navy was to park the Iowa in Stockton, and then display the ship very similiar as the Wisconsin. There is another thread about the Iowa in the archives somewhere almost about this same topic. Regards.

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." --Ben Franklin

Sen. Feinstein managed to snag the Iowa away from its mooring in Rhode Island to be towed around the continent via the Panama Canal, to be replaced in a mothball fleet with the express concern that there be a museum ship in SFO. Idiotic money was spent as there were several sites that wanted the battleship to be placed on the east coast, but she took it there when the Democrats had control of the Senate. Now it's there, sitting in Suisun Bay, and SFO doesn't want it. Screw them.

It's still a category B mobilization asset, and carried on the rolls as being part of the Pacific Reserve. So send it up to Puget Sound, or down to San Diego, or even San Pedro/Long Beach and set it up there the same way the Wisconsin is displayed in Norfolk. Let it be a living museum where people will appreciate it.

And while they're at it they ought to bring the Pampanito down there, too.

Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 11):San Francisco, and the Bay Area in general, has had a history of support for the Navy and the maritime industry as a whole, going back decades, maybe even centuries now.

That does not excuse what they are doing now.

I'm just glad my grandfather (a WWII veteran) did not live to see this. It would have broken his heart how monuments to his generation are spat upon because of some petty liberals' idea of "give peace a chance".

On the other hand, Candlestick Point is not the best place to display such a ship. As anyone been to the neighborhood surrounding the area? Go visit the ship and get robbed or worse. There parts in that area the police won't go into, now it they put the ship closer to downtown then it would be a benefit, but not at Candlestick Point. Maybe this is a smokescreen by the Board of Supervisiors so they don't have to explain the crime problem.

My god it's back! These people are obviously going from city to city trying to find someone to give them a pile of money. Last year they tried to put the Iowa in Milwaukee. People were excited at first, until they found out that they wanted to moor the ship right on the lakefront and turn one of the best city parks into parking lot. Unlike some great lakes cities (cough, Cleveland) we did not encase our lakefront in concrete and have no intention to do it now.

The deal was also for 100% public financing, The city would pay to go get the ship, make it seaworthy for the journey, refurbish it once it's here, and pay for the infrastructure improvements (the aforementioned concrete) The Iowa is a rusting hulk, a shadow of what it used to be. Just to bring it up to EPA code would have cost more than $20mil.

To add insult to injury this would also have taken money away from the current Veterans memorial which occupies a prominent spot further down the shore, and is falling apart. This turned local veterans groups against the project.

The deal was shady, and the people behind it were even shadier. Public opinion ran 10-1 against the Iowa and the mayor rightly told them to take a hike. If this is the same deal that they are pitching to San Fran the people there are right in doing the same.

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline." Frank Zappa

The shame of San Francisco is that it has a longer history as a linchpin of the nations defense than it has as a bastion of gay and liberal ideology.

But the ship ought to go were it is wanted, and I understand it will go to Long Beach.

The thing for those of you in Maryland and Charleston to understand is that they are NOT going to place three battleships on the East Coast.

The New Jersey is here in NJ, the Wisconsin is in Norfolk, Missouri in Hawaii. Two on the east coast two on the west. The problem is placing two museum ships too close together. One of the reasons North Jersey lost out to South Jersey for placement of the BB-62 was becasue it was feared in New York that the New Jersey would siphon off visitors from the Intrepid.

Patriots Point in Charleston would have worked for one of the ships, joining a fleet of museum ships rather than competing against them. However, New Jersey is where she belongs, and Wisconsin is still maintained by the Navy in the reserve fleet, which is why you can only walk the main deck and it can't leave Norfolk.

California is the best place for Iowa. San Fransisco Bay may have not been the greatest place for her anyway. It is much better for the ships to be in warm water, preferably fresh water, maintainence is easier deterioration is slowed.

Quoting UALPHLCS (Reply 22):The thing for those of you in Maryland and Charleston to understand is that they are NOT going to place three battleships on the East Coast.

The New Jersey is here in NJ, the Wisconsin is in Norfolk, Missouri in Hawaii. Two on the east coast two on the west. The problem is placing two museum ships too close together. One of the reasons North Jersey lost out to South Jersey for placement of the BB-62 was becasue it was feared in New York that the New Jersey would siphon off visitors from the Intrepid.

Well there is the U.S.S. Massachusetts in Fall River Ma. I say bring the Iowa here!